Waves on strings and water

Two everyday transverse waves: the ripples on still water, and a wave shaken along a string.

Water waves are transverse

When a stone falls into still water, the water particles move up and down within a certain range, while the wave spreads out at right angles to that motion.

A floating ball moves up and down because the water particles push it up and down. So the water moves up and down, the wave moves outward across the surface, and the two directions are at right angles: water waves are transverse waves.

Waves on a string

Moving one end of a string up and down sets up waves along it. The string moves up and down; the wave moves along the string. These too are transverse waves.